…seems to be suggesting that “muddling through” may be our last option. I rather think it is the only option, and always has been. And becoming good “muddlers” should be our first priority. For those of you unacquainted with British-speak “Muddling through” is what happens when all plans fail and still a positive result emerges. It seems to be mysterious, particularly when one assumes that careful planning and detailed execution is the only way to move forward.<\/p>\n
I am by no means suggesting that planning and good execution is irrelevant, but I think it is incredibly important to fully understand the nature and limitations of both planning and execution. There are those who see planning as an exercise in creating the future — and therefore execution becomes the implementation of that desired future. Implicit in that understanding is the assumption that we could actually comprehend\/understand the myriad forces and variables in our world and therefore come up with an accurate plan leading naturally to effective execution. Nice idea, but fatally flawed.<\/p>\n
I think the good news of the moment is that the limitations of our capacities are becoming painfully obvious. We do not, will not, nor have we ever had sufficient grasp of the complex and fast moving elements in our world\/country\/company\/organization (what I have called “raplexity”) to enable the creation of effective plans which lead naturally to elegant execution. This is a real blow to the old ego (individually and collectively) but, I believe, an essential first step towards dealing with our lives, to say nothing of our sanity. When reality and our perception of reality are wildly out of phase, that is indeed crazy making, and may in fact be the definition of insanity itself. We call that a “break with reality.”<\/p>\n
Plans (at best) are rough approximations of the territory that lies ahead. They are man-made maps, and like all such things — good as far as they go, but never mistaken for the territory they depict. To think otherwise is to invite disaster — as is painfully exemplified by the current…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This seems a good fit, popping up just between yesterday’s election and my flight to London next week. Living beyond the plan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This from Harrison Owen, of OpenSpaceTech fame, via the OSLIST international email listserve… …seems to be suggesting that “muddling through” may be our last option. I rather think it is the only option, and always has been. And becoming good “muddlers” should be our first priority. For those of you unacquainted with British-speak “Muddling through” … <\/p>\n
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